The Influences of Cut Types on the Quality of Fresh Minimally Processed Pineapple

Abstract. Fresh pineapple (Ananas comosus Merr) has short life span. The storage at vacuum and low temperature condition by using plastic bag is expected to maintain the quality and prolong the life span of fresh minimally processed pineapple. The study aimed to evaluate the influence of cut types of fresh minimally processed pineapple on its quality and shelf life. The study was done under complete random design non factorial with the cut types treatment consisted of 3 variations i.e. slicing, dicing, and julienne. The fruit was cut at thickness of 2 cm and stored at temperature of 10 C. The observation was conducted every 2 day until the consumers rejection by minimal score of 2 (dislike). The parameters observed were the life span, weight loss, the hardness, vitamin C and the total soluble solid. Results showed that the fresh minimally processed pineapple with julienne cut type had the longest life span i.e. 10 days, whereas he fresh minimally processed pineapple with slicing and dicing cut types had life span at 6 and 8 days, respectively. All cut types did not influence the weight loss, the hardness, vitamin C dan total soluble solid of fresh minimally processed pineapple. The lowest weight loss was indicated at dicing cut type (0.9%), while the highest weight loss was indicated at slicing cut type (5.2%). The hardest condition of fruit texture was observed at julienne cut type (0.7 kg/cm2), while the softest condition of fruit texture was observed at dicing cut type (0.5 kg/cm2). The best performance of total soluble solid and vitamin C were determined at dicing cut type.